A Clothes Encounter
by strawhatgirl
Summary: High School AU- Ah, young love. Finally, each of the Fairy Tail girls have found their "true loves" and are living a happily ever ending. But how exactly did they meet their "prince charming"?


**Hello! As said in the summary, this is a high school academy AU. Currently it's a gruvia story, but depending on the feedback, I might write about the rest of my favorite pairings later on ^^ **

**Disclaimer: I regretfully admit that Fairy Tail belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima-sensei.**

**Now without further ado, I present you some FT lovin'. **

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><p>The Fairy Tail girls were all gathered in Lucy's dorm room, happily swapping tales and sharing stories as each was swaddled in a comfy blanket or sleeping bag. That's right: the FT girls were having a slumber party. The boys, on the other hand, were camped out in Natsu's dorm, partaking in a boy's slumber party against their will.<p>

"Remind me again why you're all here?" Gray grumbled, clearly annoyed with all the unwelcomed visitors in his dorm that he shared with his idiot roommate Natsu.

"The shrimp is busy tonight, so she told me to go bother you dumbasses." Gajeel shrugged, leaning into Natsu's chair while propping his feet up onto the desk. Natsu, immediately incensed by Gajeel's insult, jumped off the bed, ready to pummel the delinquent who was dirtying his desk with his feet. Before Natsu could even lay a finger on the snickering boy in the chair, Gray swiftly grabbed his ankle, causing the pink-haired boy to promptly fall on his face.

"Erza is also busy, so I thought we could have a little sleepover of our own." Jellal nodded seriously as he unrolled his sleeping bag next to Natsu's bed, completely unfazed by Gray's glare and Natsu's muffled shouting since his face was still glued to the floor.

"I like sleepovers, so this is kind of nice…" Romeo smiled sheepishly, his gentle words harshly contrasting with his actions as he was incessantly poking Natsu's head, checking to see if the pink-haired boy was alive.

"Well, I think this is dumb." Laxus scowled, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

_Then why are you even here? _Gray's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he watched the blonde.

"Anyway…" Laxus's frown slowly transformed into a smirk as he remembered what usually entertained him. "Natsu, your room stinks. It's as sucky as you are."

Natsu, who was lying face first on the floor, quickly stood up, whacking Romeo's head with his own in the process of getting up. Romeo fell back onto the floor, knocked out, as Natsu and Laxus began to throw punches at each other. As the boys tussled on the floor, Gajeel threw himself into the mess, eager to fight just for the sake of beating someone up.

While the lamp crashed over, the walls scuffed, and an assortment of items were thrown around the room, Gray sighed. Looking over at the unconscious boy Romeo, Gray thought to himself almost wishfully, _I wonder what the girls are doing right now._

_Meanwhile…_

"You know, there's actually a really great bakery in Clover Town. I passed it while going to the bar." Cana elbowed Erza who was laying down next to her on the floor, her chin resting on her crossed arms as she tilted her face upwards to look at the rowdy brunette. By her side was Juvia who was also lying down, a Gray-sama plushie in her arms and a grey comforter across her waist.

"Oh, it's called Keki Suteki*, isn't it?" Juvia piped up, rolling over to look at Cana.

"Yup, that's the one!" Cana grinned cheekily. Mira, leaning against the bed next to Cana, gave a gentle smile, happily listening to the girls converse.

Lucy and Levy on the bed above leaned on each other as they listened to the girls below, occasionally throwing in a quip or two.

"I can't really tell if that's a good pun or not." Lucy shook her head, a small smile on her lips.

"I don't know if I should trust your judgment, Lu-chan, especially since you see something in Natsu." Levy teased jokingly, bumping her shoulder gently against Lucy's. The girls laughed as Lucy made a face. Once the girls quieted down a bit, Cana perked up, an evil smile forming on her face.

"Actually, that reminds me…" Cana grinned. "How's everyone's love lives?"

"Hm, let's talk about yours first, Cana-san." Mira smiled, an equally sinister tone in her voice, clashing with her angelic expression. Cana chuckled.

"Too bad for you, Mira, 'cause there's not much to talk about. Just a couple of casual hookups here and there. Actually, there's this one guy, Bacchus, from another school. You should really see what he can do with his fingers– "

"C-Cana-san!" Juvia interrupted, cutting off Cana's most likely rated R story as she covered her blushing cheeks with her hands. Cana quickly shifted her attention over to Juvia, not particularly upset that she was interrupted.

"Oh-ho! Looks like Juvia spoke up. Let's talk about you first! You and Gray have been together for…how many months now? 9?" Cana grinned evilly.

"41 weeks and 3 days, so almost 10 months." Juvia immediately corrected Cana before shaking her head in horror. "Wait, Juvia doesn't want to go first!"

"Too late!" Cana shouted triumphantly, earning Juvia a couple of sympathetic looks from the rest of the girls even though they all knew they'd have to spill the beans about their own relationships later in the night.

"Hmmm… What should we start with? Sex life? I've always wondered what Gray would be like in bed." Cana pondered, tapping her finger against her lips.

"H-how about we talk about how they met? Like how it all started?" Lucy quickly cut in, saving Juvia from intrusive topic. The other girls nodded fervently, each murmuring their support in hopes of dissuading Cana from sex talk.

"Ooh, good one, Lucy!" Cana brightened up, shooting an approving look at the relieved blonde, who returned with a shaky smile. Juvia silently mouthed "thank you" to Lucy, glad her love rival saved her from further embarrassment.

"Ah well… It all started in the laundry room…"

_2 years ago…_

A Friday night after exams. She should be celebrating, she should be hanging out with her friends, she should be out and about, being social and what not. Instead, Juvia found herself awake in the wee hours of the morning….cleaning.

Not that she wasn't satisfied, of course. In fact, she appreciated the peace and quiet she found in her dorm room. Humming to herself contently, Juvia stuffed a mountain of dirty clothes lying at the foot of her bed into a small laundry bag. Barely able to lift it, she pushed the overflowing bag towards the door which happened to swing open just as Juvia gave up, sitting on the top of the laundry bag in exhaustion.

"Juvia?" Cana drunkenly threw herself onto her bed, tilting her head questioningly. "Why are you up right now?"

To Cana's surprise, the dorm room looked surprisingly clean. For the past two weeks, the two girls had been living in abysmal conditions due to finals week. As studying consumed their lives, an organized living space was the last thing they had on their minds.

"Welcome back, Cana-san." Juvia smiled, glad to see that her roommate made it back to their room alive and intact as Cana had a tendency of wandering off and taking shelter in the strangest of places when she was intoxicated. Just a month ago, Juvia found herself dragging Cana out of a cupcakery at 4 AM as she had fallen asleep on one of their display stands. "I left a glass of water and some Advil on your bed stand in case you need it in the morning." Juvia stood up, patting her back as if brushing off imaginary dust.

"Right, thanks." Cana half-listened to Juvia as she grabbed the glass off her bed stand, chugging the water down. She slammed it back onto the bed stand, the loud crack of the glass hitting wood making her flinch. "It's 2:40 AM. What are you doing going to the laundry room?" She looked pointedly at the laundry bag next to the entrance of their room.

"Juvia likes doing her laundry when it isn't so crowded." Juvia shoved the bag out the door before she turned back around to look at her roommate, who quite frankly looked like she was about to either pass out or throw up.

"Good night, Cana-san. Try not to throw up. I just cleaned the room." Juvia teased, slightly amused, as she shut the door gently. She heard a muffled "I don't throw up after drinking! It's undignified!" before she turned around to grab the laundry bag and leave the common room. Juvia and Cana shared a suite-styled dorm along with Lucy and Levy. Despite living in separate quarters, they shared the common room and a small bathroom, which certainly allowed for plenty opportunities of fun and arguments. However, the four grew close throughout their first semester together.

Glancing quickly over at the closed door opposite to the one she just left, Juvia smiled. _Lucy-san and Levy-san are probably asleep, _she thought to herself, humming quietly as she left the dorm room with her laundry bag in tow. Luckily for her, Juvia didn't have to carry the laundry bag for long as the laundry room was just in the basement of the residential building.

Upon reaching the laundry room, she balanced the heavy bag in one arm as she carefully pried open the door. She particularly liked doing her laundry so early in the morning as there was always an abundance of machines to use and some quiet space to do some extra studying. Generally, the laundry room was crowded, filled with lazy students who wait for weeks before finally deciding to wash a load of laundry, usually because they ran out of some necessity like underwear or socks. Though the room was nearly empty, it was only natural that this strange hour in the morning would attract the oddballs on campus as well. The moment she walked in, her eye was drawn towards the one other person in the room: a boy about her age with dark, inky hair and no shirt. He had his head stuck inside an inactive washing machine as he muttered to himself. Picking a machine a couple down from his, Juvia frowned concernedly as she watched him accidentally hit his head when removing himself from the machine. He had let out a yelp of surprise, his voice echoing inside.

For the first time since she entered the room, Juvia could see his face. Blood rushing to her cheeks, she quickly tore her eyes away from him, busying herself with her own laundry. She had never seen anyone more…beautiful, for a lack of a better term. His dark onyx eyes along with the hard lines of his face gave him a serious and almost angry appearance. However, she saw something more than his physical features. There was something seemingly childish about him, a softness she couldn't place. Perhaps that was simply because he was completely incompetent at washing his own laundry despite it already being a whole semester.

Sighing, Juvia closed the lid of her machine and entered a couple of quarters to start the cycle. She bit her lip as she glanced at the boy again, who was now struggling with the powder detergent. He squinted at the tiny directions on the back of the box, his brow furrowed in concentration. After glaring at the instructions for a couple of seconds, he determinedly ripped open the top of the box and dumped its entire contents into the machine. Juvia's jaw dropped in utter shock. _Is he an idiot?!_

"Um…Do you need help?" Juvia asked cautiously, stepping forward towards his direction. You can never be too careful with weirdos. The boy's head shot up at the sound of Juvia's voice, his normally calm eyes wide open with surprise. He took a quick peek at the disastrous mess he made before looking at Juvia again.

"Y-yeah, that'd be nice... Thanks." He stuttered as he looked down, avoiding Juvia's eyes in embarrassment for asking for help. Juvia felt her cheeks warm again. Gazing at his abashed expression, a quiet sighescaped her lips. Her face grew hotter as he looked up at her curiously. Embarrassed, she hurried over towards his machine, checking the insides to gauge the damage. She grimaced.

"We'll have to scoop out all the detergent." Juvia instructed, grabbing a container from her laundry bag.

"Here, let me." The boy took the container out of her hands and began to remove the detergent, before abruptly pausing. Juvia stilled, watching him cautiously. Peeking his head out of the machine, he turned to look at her.

"I'm Gray, by the way." He said before resuming his work.

"J-Juvia." Juvia responded, flustered. As she watched him scoop out the remaining detergent powder, her heart beat erratically, the pounding leaving her ears ringing. She couldn't help but watch his pale, strong arms move, his sculpted chest move up and down from his breathing… Wait, his chest? _How did I just notice he has no shirt on?! _Juvia's heart exploded as she squealed inwardly, though her face remaining stoic.

"W-where's your shirt by the way?" Juvia stammered, denying herself of pleasure as she averted her eyes away from his body. Gray looked at her questioningly before staring down at his shirtless chest, letting out a surprised "ack!" as it finally registered to him that he was half-naked in front of a girl. A cute one, nonetheless.

"Uh, I wanted to wash it, and I didn't think anybody else would be here, so…" Gray calmed himself quickly as he attempted to explain indifferently.

"J-Juvia's sorry!" Juvia apologized, her face warming. Gray, startled, shook his head feverishly.

"No! It's fine…I should've known I wouldn't be the only one here anyway…" He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, averting his gaze as well. The two stood in awkward silence, unsure of what to do next.

"Well, here. I finished scooping out the detergent. Now what?" Gray returned back to his cool disposition, handing Juvia the box of detergent. Juvia looked at him confused before remembering that she was teaching him how to do his laundry.

"Oh, right. Next, make sure you separate your clothes correctly. Put the darks and colors in one machine and the lights in another." Juvia said, watching him take out white shirts and boxers from the machine. Flustered again, she turned her head away.

"And then?" Gray looked at her expectantly, slightly confused to see that her face was a bright shade of red and was facing away from him.

"Um, look, you see this little drawer here in the machine?" Juvia walked over next to him as she pointed out the outline of a small rectangle in the machine. "You open this and pour the detergent in here." Juvia spoke as she tipped the detergent box over, shaking it gently to get the powder out, though it refused to cooperate. Juvia frowned as she shook the box again until she felt another pair of hands on her own and the light brush of someone else's chest against her back. She felt Gray's breath tickle the nape of her neck as his cold fingers enclosed around hers. Juvia took in a sharp breath, the sound resonating through her ears.

Once the detergent box was filled, he stepped back casually, seemingly apathetic about the close contact just then. Juvia, on the other hand, felt like as if steam was coming out of her head.

"You okay? You look kinda red." Gray squinted, scrutinizing the blush on Juvia's cheeks.

"No! I'm fine!" Juvia quickly reassured, turning her attention back to the washing machine in front of her.

"Choose warm for whites and cold for darks." Juvia pointed at the buttons on top as Gray followed her directions obediently. Dispensing a couple of quarters inside each, he pressed the start buttons, finally completing his arduous task of doing laundry. Mentally exhausted, he let out a quiet long sigh as he leaned against the machine. His eyes flicked over towards Juvia, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. After a long lull of silence, he finally decided to break the ice.

"So, what grade are you in?" He asked.

And with that, the two slowly began to build up a conversation. She learned many things, like he was a tenth grader, just like her. He was here on an art scholarship, creating sculptures from clay, but most famously ice. He doesn't like spicy foods. He's bought at least 30 shirts since the start of the semester and has lost 20 of them already. He has a strange dislike for socks. He thinks pineapples are the most interesting fruit. His face softens when he speaks of his family, and though he only talks trash about his roommate, there is no doubt that he thinks of him like a brother. He thumbs the cross on his necklace as a nervous habit, and he tilts his head to the right when he's listening.

But most of all, she learned that each time he smiled at her, she fell deeper and deeper in love.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>yikes, sorry the ending was so rushed! hopefully i'll deliver a much more promising chapter next time ;-;

*Keki Suteki- for all the KnB fans out there, this was a little shout out to my main man/pun master Izuki (steakalicious indeed). Keki means cake and suteki means lovely/beautiful (disclaimer: i got these translations off the internet)

Also! the chapter names are/will be based on songs that I like/have a very loose tie with the chapter..

**Coming up: **Chapter 2- _Don't Say Goodnight (Hot Chelle Rae)_

**please rate & review! i want to hear what you have to say ^^**


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